The sickle cell anemia controversy is one of the major health policy issues facing the black community. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited defect of the red blood cells, and it is primarily a disease found in people of African descent. After many years of neglect, the federal government, as well as several foundations, have shown their concern for this disease by providing financial support for research and education projects. However, most of the research grants have gone to projects that are concerned with the epidemiologic, genetic, diagnostic, pathological, and therapeutic aspect of this disease. Only a few studies have examined this health problem from a socio-political perspective. This study will identify and examine the political and social factors which have contributed to the development of the sickle cell controversy in the black community. The target population for the investigation will include a sample of community residents, black professionals, leaders of sickle cell volunteer organizations, and key political and administrative figures in the federal government. The main method of data collection will be the direct interview, but institutional sources of data will be utilized. Both the Guttman and Likert scaling procedures will be employed in developing measures of the attitudes of respondents toward the sickle cell anemia issue. Statistics such as frequency distribution, dispersion and correlation will be used in the data analysis.